Never mind the overall record, St. Rita soccer is on the rise.So say those in the know, namely its manager Bob Kellam and two of his best players, Jamie Banuelos and William Beebe.The Mustangs are on the road at winless Guerin Prep on Saturday morning, and will have the chance to erase a disappointing 4-3 defeat on Thursday to DePaul Prep."It was a tough loss," admitted the senior Beebe, who leads the club with seven goals heading into Saturday’s game."We had a great start, went up 2-0, but a PK shifted the momentum in their favor and we had a difficult time recovering after that."Beebe figures he and his mates are on the cusp of bigger and better things with the second half of the season, which unofficially begins against Guerin."With us having so many young and inexperienced players, it has taken us time to get comfortable with the way each of us plays,” Beebe said. “We’re developing the right kind of chemistry needed to compete with many of the better teams that we'll be playing.""We start five to six underclassmen and when you do that, sometime it takes time for those guys to understand that ‘yes, you are talented and you belong here and can play’,” Kellam said. “And I think now we're beginning to believe in ourselves, which in turn gets us the results we want.”The Mustangs’ boss feels the mix of young and old is the perfect tonic for success for his men, as evidenced by a 1-0 victory over St. Joseph, a 2-2 draw with Chicago U-High, and then a 2-1 triumph against Montini to get the club up and on its front foot for the first time this season."We're young but we are also very talented, and things are beginning to fall into place for us," offered the junior Banuelos, who wears the captain’s armband for Kellam along with teammate Ryan Dangles.The junior and three-year varsity veteran says Kellam and his staff have been just what he and his teammates need, and that ever since training began back in the summer he has seen tremendous growth among the Mustangs."We've become a very close team and we're all good friends who share the common goal of making soccer something special here at St. Rita, and a sport that we can all be proud to say that we play here,” Banuelos said."We want to get the word out that St. Rita is something special, and if we can, that will help bring new players into the program who want to be a part of our success."Recently the Mustangs celebrated their 50th anniversary, which included a halftime ceremony to honor those who have come through the school and its soccer program."It was a great time for all," began Kellam."We had commemorative patches on the jerseys, special pennants that we exchange with other teams at the coin flip, and we also wore throw-back, red and white striped jerseys."

The Mustangs also celebrated Grade School Night, inviting future young players from the area to come see the big club play."The atmosphere was great for soccer, we had our band out that night, which was like a twelfth man for the boys," said Kellam, who is a 1992 St. Rita grad."We came back from being down 1-0 to win 2-1 to help complete a wonderful night all the way around. Tim McCarthy and I have been working really hard to build something here at Rita, both on and off the field."Kellam points to several of his veterans who have shined thus far, beginning with keeper Hector Aguilar. Aguilar’s extensive work during the offseason has made the senior a top-flight man between the sticks, while the quartet of Beebe, Baneulos, Langston Bedgood and Ryan Dangles — also a three-year player — is a group the staff can count on when the Mustangs are going forward.The youth movement at St. Rita starts with sophomore Tyler Padilla, freshmen Chuy Flores and Julio Walton, and senior Daniel St. Preux, whom Kellam says has come on strong of late."Padilla is a sophomore playing sweeper like a senior, while our two freshmen have stepped up to play the way we knew they could after that breaking-in period all young, new players have to go through," Kellam said.​In advance of its Chicago Catholic League White Division opener with Providence Catholic on September 26, the Mustangs' schedule will include Bishop McNamara at home on Monday, followed by a visit from Oak Lawn next Saturday in a 9:00 a.m. breakfast special.